Think Twice Before Ordering Beauty Products on Amazon
I’m an Amazon junkie.
Ever since I realized I could use my little sister’s college Prime account, I’ve been ordering all my basics from there, especially since the majority of drugstore-type products are cheaper on Amazon than they are in the CVS on my block.
But occasionally when I’m browsing the reviews for a new product or a product sold by a retailer I haven’t previously purchased from, I find some sus shit. People will be giving 1-star reviews left and right and claiming that the product was a counterfeit, or that they put some other rando stuff in the “fancy” product bottle.
You know, like when you used to fill your parents’ Grey Goose bottles with water. But in this case, retailers are refilling boujee shampoo bottles with crap.
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I never thought much of this, and simply made sure to always check the reviews when ordering something on there, but it’s actually a huge problem that you might not be aware of.
In fact, Refinery29 wrote an in-depth piece today on the “gray matter beauty market,” which includes retailers like Amazon and Costco.com.
Basically, they’re not “approved retailers” for the beauty products you’re buying, and when you buy a product from an unapproved retailer, you never know what you’re getting. Sometimes it’s simply an expired product, but other times it’s a complete counterfeit — kind of like those fake Kylie lip kits that were filled with glue.
According to Refinery29, the gray matter market accounts for $63 billion of U.S. industry sales. So if you’ve gotten scammed, you’re def not alone.
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Obviously, there are some legality issues when it comes to stores like Costco, but for Amazon, it’s tricky.
A Refinery29 rep explained in the comments of the article that since Amazon is a marketplace, not a retailer, they have no regulation for what’s being sold on their site. Sketchy.
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If you weren’t already reading the reviews for products you were thinking of buying, consider this a wake up call. And if you’re finding great deals on beauty products on Amazon, they’re probably too good to be true. Amazon is convenient af and lit for lots of things, but maybe you should stick to your local drugstore or department store for beauty products from here on out.